Memphis Blues

"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

(John 1:29)

I was with our youth on the annual "Street Reach" mission trip, sitting doing a morning quiet time outside the church on the streets of Memphis. While just sitting & being quiet, I heard a door open across the street on a little run down house that was surrounded by a 5 to 6 foot chain link fence with a big sign on the gate that read "Beware of Dog". A little old man waddled out the door with a bag of trash in his hand, he opened the lock on his fence that was attached to a large chain, he hurried out the gate threw away the trash went back in, locking it behind him. Three large dogs came up to him he patted each one on the head & then went back inside & locked his door.

The next morning in the same place, I watched an older white man walking down the street, he looked up saw a young black man walking toward him, he immediately crossed to the other side with a frightened look on his face.

While working with the children on our site we witnessed a man standing outside a car beating a man in the car & cussing him very loudly. I was between the kids & the fight, I yelled at them & told them to stop that there were kids around, but they he didn't listen. I looked back at the kids & saw fear...there were some that it didn't bother, but those that could see it well seemed scared. All of these situations made me feel that this city was hopeless...I can understand why this city is well known for the blues.

All of this got me thinking about how sin brings nothing but fear & imprisonment. The kids surrounded by violence, the old man crossing the street & the little old man who locked himself away in his own house, all of them fear the sin that lives around them. I was thinking about how our sin doesn't just effect us, but everyone we come in contact with. Memphis is a place that after dark & even during the day, you wouldn't want to walk the streets...all because of people who choose to live in sin. If only they would choose to accept the only one who could set them all free from sin & the Memphis blues. There is hope & it is Jesus.

Please be in prayer for Memphis, Brinkley Heights Church & their ministry Street Reach. Pray that they make a difference daily & that God would protect them & give them great success in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the children & adults of Memphis.

Vern